Expert: Eileen Cronk - 7/1/2008

Question
I have an old sofa bed/day bed that is probably around 55 yrs or so old (it was my grandmother's).  The style is where the back of the sofa is a flat spring that folds down when you pull the front out and the top cushion is laid ontop of it to make about a double size bed.  There's a steel arm on each side of the couch to hold the pieces together and stabilize it when it's not leaning against a wall - and I am missing both of the arms, I think they were lost during a move years ago.  They attached to the wooden bottom, and had a notch that slipped into a hole on the back/spring.  Underneath the springs it says Land-o-nod, but not sure it that is the true mfr of the whole piece.  Any ideas where I could find arms - I don't care if it's original, just want to make it functional.

Answer
Hi Erika
Nice to hear from you.
Erica this is a really tough question.
To my knowledge, these are not made any more so the only possible place to get replacements would be from a similar piece.
That means going to Goodwill, SallyAnn, junk stores and garage sales etc.
Now having said that, is there any way you could have a handy man look at this and see if something can be improvised? I'll bet it could.
It does not need to be metal. Possibly wood.
Good Luck
Regards
Eileen